


A Gamer's Heart

by cuddlypillow



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom, rhack
Genre: AU, Borderlands: Tales from the Borderlands, But actually pretty sweet, Gamer AU - Freeform, Jack is a Tease, M/M, Slice of Life, This might switch to mature rating, alternative universe, gamer - Freeform, rhack - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2018-09-28 04:22:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10071308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlypillow/pseuds/cuddlypillow
Summary: "It’s time to get the VaultHunters as guild number 1 on this server!”Vaults of Pandora is a beloved MMORPG, that Rhys and his friends love to play - until that one evening when Rhys get's killed over and over by the same player.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My awesome friends on the Borderlands Discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+awesome+friends+on+the+Borderlands+Discord).



> Hello~  
> I'm back with another story I will update from time to time!  
> I hope you enjoy it :)  
> Thanks to Sam for being such a quick beta (◡‿◡✿)

It was already evening, when Rhys got home from his part time job he had after school.  
His parents were out again so no one was home but him. The first thing he did was kick off his shoes, throw his jacket in the corner, and then rush up the stairs to his room, where he pressed the start button of his computer.  
It was finally weekend and he he had already done his homework, so he would be able to play games all day.  
While Echos rebooted, he got his phone and called his regular pizza place, ordering a large pepperoni pizza. The energy drink he had put into the fridge that morning was ice cold; there was no way he would fall asleep, he needed to get to max level in Vaults of Pandora this weekend!  
He joined his guilds TeamSpeak. Vaughn was already online, probably ingame while Rhys’ game still updated.

“Broo! Heya, finally weekend!” Rhys greeted his best friend while fitting the headset to his head.  
“Rhys! Yeah, how was work?”  
“Please don’t ask. Vallory shooed me all around the place and I’m so happy August has to work tomorrow.”  
“Gosh, that woman is crazy. But at least you got a job!”  
The doorbell rung. “Brb, I think my pizza just arrived!” He ran back downstairs, getting his food.

When Rhys finally joined the game, he instantly got a group invite from Vaughn.  
“Fiona’s not coming today. She’s on a date with Nisha. And Sasha is babysitting.”  
“Oh and what about with Wilhelm?”  
“He might get online later. He didn’t seem to be in the mood today. And he’s already max level, you know…”  
“Yeah. But this weekend we’ll join him. It’s time to get the VaultHunters as guild number 1 on this server!” 

While eating his pizza, Rhys’ and Vaughn’s characters traveled to a place they’d be able to grind for the next few hours. Vaults of Pandora was an MMORPG they’d discovered a few months ago and fell in love with. It had taken them awhile to convince the rest of their clique to play the game,ll but now they were a pretty successful guild. Together they stayed up long nights full of grinding for loot, fighting boss monsters and other players. 

Rhys was playing a knight class, his character looking nearly exactly like him. Armed with a shield and a longsword with electrical damage he had crafted himself, he pulled a row of mobs and killed them with an AOE that let them drop their trash items and money instantly. His shining, dark armor was detailed with orange details and clattered when he picked everything up.

Behind him was Vaughn, a tall mage with a bushy, brown beard, clothed in a long blue garb, was swinging his staff and buffing Rhys while debuffing their enemies.  
The mobs they had to fight were some gross looking purplish colored monsters with elongated arms and legs. The so called guardians blocked their way to a dungeon they wanted to complete today. 

“Can you freeze the left group? My stun won’t last long enough to fight the right and left and their putti will be a problem.”  
“No problem, freeze coming in… damn I used it already, you’re going to have to wait 20 seconds.”  
“Okay, keep my heal up, I’m stunning the left group, kill the right one real fast and then the left.”  
“Don’t die okay? My resurrection isn’t ready yet and you would lose a lot of EXP if you respawn.” 

Rhys jumped into the right group, his sword striking down one monster after the other. These monsters were made for groups of at least 6 people, going in there with 2 people was nearly suicide, but they had to do it to get the last EXP for their final level up.  
“Gogogogo!” Vaughn cheered, sending a rain of fire onto the monsters, killing a few but not enough. He had trouble keeping Rhys’ HP up, so he had to stop and focus.  
A few monsters left the group, running towards the mage. Rhys saw an called a warning.  
“Vaughn watch out!” Rhys struck them down easily, “We don’t have any tanks so I have to pull them, you can’t die as our healer!”  
“I know! Sorry!” Vaughn responded.

Finally the last monster died and granted them its loot. “Phew!” Rhys stretched his fingers and rubbed his eyes. Finally, those things were a pain in the ass. They were apart of every vault, the so called “dungeons”, but at least they wouldn’t spawn until someone entered the vault.

“I need more health potions before we get in. The next traveling seller isn’t far away, wait here and watch out.”  
“Actually I really need to pee.” Vaughn admitted. “I’m afk for not more than 2 minutes!” He called, already putting down the headset, his voice getting quieter.  
“Just hurry.” Rhys mumbled while his character auto-ran to the seller. He tried to rip the last two pieces of pizza from each other, the cheese drawing strings from each other. His hands were a mess of cheese and sauce and felt oily. As he put a piece to his mouth a bright light right at the corner of his eyes catched his attention.

His character wasn’t moving anymore, the red effects showing him he was on low health. How? There were no monsters on this road and Vaughn had healed him completely beforehand.  
It took him a few seconds to recognize the second player near him, charging another skill. Rhys had to act fast, he choked on his last piece of pizza, trying to rub the oil from his fingers on his sweater. He mashed his keys ashe tried to dodge.  
But it was too late, the last attack hit his knight, bringing him down with a low scream while his screen turned black, showing:

YOU ARE DEAD


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thanks for all the kudos!  
> Also thanks to my lovely beta Huunous ♥  
> This chapter was fun, I hope you like it was well!

 

 **_RhysWinz_ ** **was killed by** **_HandsomeKing_ **

  
“What the hell just happened? How?” Rhys stared at the loading screen, the information slowly sinking in.   
“What’s up, bro?” Vaughns voice echoed through the headset, just coming back.

“Are you alright?”  
“Nope… I just got killed by another player… An assassin. Without warning or anything!”   
“Who did that?”   
“Someone named _HandsomeKing_ , I guess it was an assassin class in stealth mode. Aaah shit, my EXP!” He finally respawned in the next city close to his place of death.   
“That might take a few hours to get back to my earlier percentage, damn. Wait for me, I’m finally getting my potions and then I’m running back to you!”

 

The game’s rules were pretty simple. Killing mobs got you experience points, getting killed by them or other players meant losing a few percentage of them. Since it got harder to gain EXP by level, dying near max level was a heavy throwback for Rhys.   


“I’m on my way back. Watch out for the other player, he had a red name.” Rhys’ character was already running back to Vaughns place.  
“I hate those. Why do these guys always have to kill other players?” Vaughn asked annoyed.   
“I don’t know but…”   
“Shit, Rhys, I’m under attack!” Vaughn yelled in between, the panic clearly audible in his voice.   
“I think it's..” Rhys could hear his buddy smashing on his keyboard “I think it’s the same one who killed you! An assassin!”   
“He’s fast… Flee, bro, I’m sure as hell his gear is only meant for PVP. He killed me _so_ fast!”   
“I don’t know, I’m trying to, but…” More key smashing “I… I’m dead.” Vaughn sighed.   


**_$LootDude$_ ** **was killed by** **_HandsomeKing_ **

 

“What an ASS!” Vaughn shouted.   
“Oh my god, RHYS! He’s entering the vault! He’s stealing our dungeon and loot, oh my god!”   
Vaughn boiled with indignation while Rhys just put his face in his hands, shaking his head.   
“What should we do, bro?”   
“Clean the area again?” Rhys asked. “And then get into the dungeon ourselves. I doubt the guy will be out until then. It’s a 6 person raid. Maybe we can even kill this _“King”_ together?”   
“Let’s give it a shot. I wish for revenge. Damn, all those EXP.”   
  
It took them a while to kill all the _guardians_ in front of the dungeon again.   
Since someone, that assassin, had entered the vault, every monster did respawn immediately. Both boys were on edge and wanted revenge. Rhys was sure, united they would avenge themselves on _HandsomeKing_ .   
“Which level does this guy even have?” Vaughn wondered. “He killed us really fast.”   
“As I said, he probably build this whole character for PVP. If I read it right, he’s in the Hyperion guild…”   
“Which is a PVP guild, I know, bro. But I’m not sure if we even got a chance against him, in that case.”   
Again, he was healing Rhys’ knight while he shredded the monsters into little pieces, one by one. They didn’t want to risk getting too much damage and lose even more EXP after that incident a few minutes ago.

Yet again it took them nearly an hour until the area was clean again. Vaughn was proud of them, for doing this the second time today without getting killed, but Rhys still held a grudge against _HandsomeKing_ .  
“We’ll kill him now. Buff us, I’m trading you a strength and defense potion as well and then we’re getting our deserved loot!”  
As he was told, Vaughn buffed Rhys and himself, putting defense and stamina spells onto them until their status bar was full of little icons, showing them their better stats.

Rhys activated the vault entrance.  
_Do you wish to pass this door to another dimension? Strong enemies and enigmas will challenge you and your friends._

 ****__  
YES   NO  


A purple loading screen embraced them after clicking on yes, as their characters were teleported into the vault.   
Rhys and Vaughn already knew this vault as they had completed it a few times with the rest of their group.  
They spawned in a forest, tall trees surrounding them. Birds were screeching, somewhere they heard a monster roaring through the nearby mountains.  
Rhys adjusted his headset.  
“Ready, bro?”  
“Of cause, I’ll be right behind you.”  
They hiked through the woods, passing just a few monsters here and there, the assassin seemed to have left. You didn’t have to kill any enemy, the game left it up to you, if you wanted to kill them or just aim straight for the end boss.  
The end boss in this vault was a horrible looking, eridium infested bear, lurking in the shadows of a cave inside the biggest mountain.  
It mostly uses close combat skills, Rhys thought while searching for the best way to approach it without a tank. Normally Wilhelm would attract the monster and keep him busy, so the damage dealers could strike it down.

Again the couple could hear the roar of the bear.   
“He’s already killing him. We don’t have enough time, Rhys.”  
“Then let's just kill the guy. Right now I don’t really care about the vault. I want revenge!”  
Vaughn shrugged in front of his computer.   
He just wanted to get on high level, but okay.  
They arrived at the cave’s entrance. The torches around it where lit, the puzzle already solved.   
The monsters in front of the cave had fire attacks, normally you had to use them to light the torches.   
Vaughn laughed.   
“Do you remember when we were here for the first time? I was like, why not just light them myself? I’m a fucking wizard! And it WORKED!”  
“Yep, that was nice. The random people in our group were so baffled the last time you did it!” Rhys smiled.

More and more fighting sounds were audible as they went deeper into the cave.  
They slowly approached and hid in the shadows, finally seeing the assassin.  
The assassin class was meant for skillful and pro players, that were already used to MMORPGs. A lot of people who took place in PVP matches played an assassin.  
They used mostly close combat skills, throwing shuriken and fighting with a dagger. They killed quickly and silently.  
That’s why Rhys hadn’t seen him until it was too late. When they had started to play the game, Rhys had considered to play this class.

“Let's wait until he’s dealt with it. Otherwise we might get killed by it when we try to attack him.” Vaughn nearly whispered until he remembered there were only Rhys and him on TeamSpeak and no one could hear them ingame.  
“Yes, let’s wait.” Rhys slurped his energy drink, shaking it and trying to get that stupid little rest from the bottom of the can.  
They watched the other player dance around the bear, that was repeatedly groaning and trying to hit him with it’s enormous paws. Getting hit by them with it’s sharp claws was critical.  
They’d stun your character, make a lot of damage and gave you a long lasting bleeding status.  
Rhys and Sasha had already died a few times on earlier visits, because of this status.  
The healthbar of the bear was still pretty high.  
“ _HandsomeKing_ seems to have some problems with the bear, all alone.” A smug grin was forming on Rhys face.  
Since assassin's only had really low defensive stats, he had to dodge a lot and couldn’t hit the enemy so much. Which resulted in a low combo rate that was essential for this class.  
Damn, I really am a nerd. I can’t remember math but stuff like…, Rhys thought.  
“Oh my god!” Vaughn shouted in between his thought. “Hm?”  
“Are you asleep? The guy just got hit by both paws. He’s stunned and low on health.  
He’s gonna die, because he can’t dodge and…”

Rhys didn’t have to calculate, he knew what would happen.  
He quickly drew his sword and shield, jumping down the little cliff they had hidden on and did a barrel roll in front of the assassin, bringing up his shield with which he caught the following combo attack of the bear.   
“What are you doing, bro?”   
“If he’s gonna die and nobody of the group is in combat mode anymore, the whole vault will get resetted since it’s hard mode. Invite him into our group. Fast!”  
Rhys strategically smashed on his keyboard, dodging, keeping up his little shield. He was not a tank, the knights shield still let some attacks through, so he had to use health potions.

 **_HandsomeKing_ ** **joined your group.**

 _HandsomeKing > _thx fukersd

“God damn, now he has time to write in the group chat?”  
“Let him be and heal me!” Rhys shouted nervously.  
“Do you bleed?”  
“Not yet.”

 _HandsomeKing_ > keep it busy i attack!

Together they fought against the end boss.  
Rhys being some kind of semi-tank, King being the damage dealer and Vaughn as their healer.  
They worked surprisingly good together.  
Maybe that guy wasn’t so bad after all…

* * *

 

With a last shout, the bear flopped onto the ground.  
**The Might Bear was killed.  
** His game stated. A small window popped up, showing Rhys his loot.  
“Not even purple stuff…” Vaughn sighted.  
“Me neither.” Rhys closed the window.

 _HandsomeKing > _Legendary sword of Might Bear ;)

“NO, he didn’t!” Rhys clicked on the highlighted chat.  
Another window popped up, showing him the stats of the legendary loot, King had gotten.  
It was a sword for the knight class, with better stats than Rhys’ current weapon.  
“He did!”

 _HandsomeKing_ > thx kiddos, that will get me a lot of cash ;) Not gonna kill u this time. CU

 **_HandsomeKing_ ** **left the group.**

  
And then they were teleported out of the vault.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed my finals and there's a little spark of motivation!  
> So take this new chapter and maybe pray for more... Or force me to write more >:D 
> 
> Also, big thanks to PumpkinPillars for being my lovely beta ♥

“What an ASSHOLE!” Rhys hammered his prosthetic fist on his desk.“  
Never trust Hyperion I guess.” Vaughn nervously laughed. '  
“I'm sorry, bro. We can do it again if you want to? I'm not tired yet.”  
Rhys wasn't sure. He was too angry to play properly now.  
“Let's take a short break. Then we'll see.”    
Rhys muted his microphone, got up and opened the window. The early summer night was fresh but not too cold and Rhys inhaled it deeply.  
‘Calm down’, he thought, ‘it's just a stupid game…’

 Rhys decided to take a quick shower, the smell of work still lingering on his clothes. Working in the little shop of Vallory’s was _okay_. Normally it wasn't too busy, but his boss could be a real pain in the ass.  
He discarded his sweater and sweatpants onto the floor and entered the shower.  
The hot water soon calmed his nerves and relaxed his tensed muscles.  
  
When he got back to his computer, not just Vaughn, but Wilhelm greeted him.  
“Hi Rhys. Vaughn already told me everything. I say we have to strike back against this Hyperion trash. Show him who’s the number one guild on this server!” Wilhelm explained.  
  
“We don’t stand a chance, Wil! Just… A single player of theirs destroyed and humiliated both  of us in a few seconds. Think about what’s going to happen if we challenge the _whole_ party!” Vaughn interjected.  
“Vaughn you have a point. But, actually I agree with Wil.”  
“Come on, Vaugh! It’s going to be fun. We’ll get Sasha and Fi to help. And I have a few other people on my friendslist that still have an open bill with Hyperion. Why not take this chance?”  
“I… I don’t have a choice anyway, right? You guys know I’m more of a PVE type…” Vaughn sighed.  
“Don’t worry.” Wilhelm chuckled into his mic. “I’m gonna protect you, Shorty.”  
“ _Please_ don’t call me like that.” Bemoaned Vaughn. “But guys, I might have a plan.”

  
“Yeah?” Wilhelm and Rhys said simultaneously.  
“You have to get in contact with this _HandsomeKing_. We have to lurk him out of his safe zone. We gonna get a few more guild members and have to farm for a bigger guild base. This whole thing might take a few weeks though.”  
“You want capture one of the castles?” Rhys asked.  
“Yep, they are easier to defend than our cozy guild encampment we own right now. And while _we_ build it _you_ have to gain _King’_ s trust- then we can easily attack him and his teammates. What do you think?”

“I’m in.” Wilhelm declared.  
“You sure about this, bro?”Rhys knew Vaughn wasn’t the biggest fan of PVP action. He had said that in many gaming sessions, over and over.  
“Man… As if I could let you guys down! But I’ll have to adjust my skills because my character build is soooo not suited for PVP…”

“No problem. I can help you with that.” Wilhelm offered. “And now we have to bring you both to max level. Sasha and Fiona, maybe Nisha too, will need to level up in a hurry as well…”  
“Our master has spoken!” Rhys laughed, while already typing a quick message on his phone into their group chat.

 

* * *

  
**_RhysWinz_ ** **reached Level 72! Congratulation adventurer, you reached the current maximum level.** ****  
**_RhysWinz_ ** **unlocked the title** **_TrueVaultHunter_ ** **!**  
  
“YES! Finally!” Rhys sighed in relief and threw his head back. Behind him, the sun already risen over the horizon.  
They had been grinding the entire night for those last experience points and finally Rhys as well as Vaughn reached the end.  
“I don’t want to see anymore monsters. I’m DONE.” Vaughn declared.  
“I need to go to bed. Like, 4 hours ago. I’m off, guys. Night Rhys, night Wil.”  
  
_User disconnected from your channel._  
“Well, that was fast.” Wilhelm stated, but he was unable to stiffle a yawn himself. “I’m off to bed, too.”  
“Yeah, I’ll try to get a few hours of rest, too, before my parents come back.” Rhys chuckled.  
Both boys shut down their computer and went to bed.  
  
When Rhys laid down, even tired as he was he couldn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, his mind wandered of to HandsomeKing .  
Pathetic… Handsome… I bet he’s some fat, pimply teenage boy; probably bullied in his school and that’s why he had to take out his frustration on random people on the internet.  
Rhys never was one of the popular people in school but at least he got a few close friends.  
Vaughn had been his best friend since early kindergarten due to both their dads working in a company named Atlas and sometimes liked to share a beer or two.  
  
They both met Wilhem in another online game a few years ago, until they found out he went to their school as well.  
And then the sisters, Rhys met them when they tried to steal some candy at Vallory’s shop.  
When the alarm set off, both girls started crying, begging him not to tell his boss.  
And who was Rhys to be so mean to two cute girls? (He actually had a crush on Sasha but she made it clear she wasn’t into him…)  
Additionally when Nisha and Fiona became a couple, Nisha had joined their clique as well though Rhys didn’t really get along with her yet.

 

At some point he must have fell asleep thinking about his friends because when he opened his eyes it was already past lunch time and his mother gave him a lecture about how bad it was to sleep that late and asked if he’d already had something to eat.  
  
“Naaah. I was just tired…” responded Rhys.  
“Were you up all night playing that game again? _Rhys_ .” She shook her head, then ruffled through his disheveled hair. “Come down in twenty minutes. I’ll make us something to eat.”  
He nodded. “‘Kay”  
After she left his room, he stretched his back and started his computer up right away, also checking his phone.

 

Sasha : Booooi, we gonna destroy theeeem! Diiiie hyperon!  
*Hyperion!  
Fii : >_> Can we maybe NOT get into trouble?  
Nisha : Then you shouldn’t date me, babe :P  
Sasha : Get a room!  
Wil : Are you guys in or not?  
Fii : What’s with Vaughn? I thought he wouldn’t do PVP?  
Vaughn: Not amused, but we have to fight for our honor… I guess ^^’  
Sasha : Awwww, Vauuuughn, cute!!!111  
Fii : Sash…  
Sasha : >:P lemme write how i want  
Rhys : Good morning! So, does that mean you’re in or not?  
_Fii is typing…_  
  
Fii : She is! -Nisha ;)  
Rhys : lol  
Anyone online yet? I’ll try to find that player from yesterday after lunch  
Fii : Fii is still busy. I can come online if you want? But I’m not gonna be a great aid…  
Rhys : It’s alright. You guys should level a bit tho :)  
Fii : Alright, BOSS >:P  
Rhys : Why are u even on Fi’s phone?  
Fii : Because she has this great app for selfies :))))

 

* * *

 

After having a quick lunch with his parents, Rhys started his game.  
He also googled a bit and found out that _HandsomeKing_ was the guild leader of Hyperion as well as a few screenshots of his. Further research revealed that this guy actually had a gaming blog.  
Interested, Rhys read through a few posts, some were just plain stories how _King_ killed a lot of players. Others described a few gaming techniques or death threats dedicated to crashing gaming servers.

And a certain IP address to Hyperion's guild TeamSpeak.  
Rhys grinned.  
  
Rhys : Guys! I found Hyperion’s TS…  
Sasha : Uhhh, you gonna join and find that guy, right? :D  
Rhys : Exactly. I’ll make a new account and ask them for permission to join Hyperion

Vaughn: That’s awesome!  
Also I won’t be online tonight. Too tired from yesterday. And my mom is angry  
because I stayed up so late  
sry :(  
Rhys : np, don’t worry!  
  
Before joining the TeamSpeak, Rhys created an assassin in Vaults of Pandora.  
Changing his nickname in TS to his new character name he then joined the server.

 _EridianPrince joined the server._  
Rhys took a moment to check the array of channels before joining one called ‘admission’.  
There weren’t many people online right now and he actually had to wait 2 hours until someone joined him in his channel.  
  
“All by yourself, kiddo?” An unknown voice asked with an amused undertone. Rhys found it immediately likeable.    
“I’m waiting for an admin.”  
“Bingo! Today’s your lucky day, pumpkin! I’m not only an admin, I fucking _own_ this server!”  
So it’s _him_ , Rhys thought. He decided to play along.  
“Oh perfect! Hello then, I’m…” ‘Oh shit, I can’t tell him my real name if I use it in-game as well.’ “I’m Eridian. I found this server on your blog about _Vaults of Pandora_ and would like to-”  
“Yadda yadda… I know what you want, otherwise you wouldn’t be in this specific channel, sugar. What level are you right now? Which class? Why wanna join my guild?”  
  
“Eh… I just started another char, it’s level 12 right now. Assassin. And I want to get into PVP which your guild is currently the best at.”  
“Hmmm… How old are you?” He didn’t sound reluctant though.  
“17. Turning 18 soon.”  
“Good. ‘cause we only accept people from 16 and older. How experienced are you in PVP?” _HandsomeKing_ asked.  
“Not much. That’s why I want to get better.”  
“Hmm.. I think I can teach you a bit. Are you in-game right now? I’ll send you an invite.”  
Rhys smiled. His plan had worked.  
  
**_HandsomeKing_ ** **invited you to join his guild** **_Hyperion_ ** **.** ****  
**  
** **Accept** **Deny**

 

“Thanks!” Rhys gladly accepted.  
“Have fun, pumpkin. But just a few rules okay?  
Try to be active on this TS, write me if you need help, take part in our guild quests and no flaming or fighting with other guild members. Since you wanted to join us, I guess you know we allow PK.” Handsome explained.

“No problem and yes.”  
  
“I have another question for you. What’s your real name? I don’t really like to address people by their nickname unless they were given it by me.” He chuckled kinda dirty.  
“I’m…  R..ey. And you?”

  
“Just call me Jack.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the Kudos, guys ♥  
> This chapter was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy it.

When Rhys went offline that evening he was angry at himself.  
He was angry because he actually had fun playing with that guy- HandsomeKing.

 _Jack_.  
  
He had to admit, Jack was actually fun to game with, he knew what he was doing and had even tips Rhys didn’t know about yet.  
That evening, Jack not only sent him a guild invite but also for _his group_. The trainee system allowed him to accept ‘Rey’ as his student so they would equally share EXP even when Jack’s character was already maximum level which resulted in quite a big level gap between them.  
  
At midnight Jack had said goodnight to him, but only after asking if ‘Rey’ would be online the next day, too.  
“Of course” Rhys had said and to be honest, he was a little excited to play together again, because it really was a lot of fun.  
As he was lying in his bed, cozy and warm under the covers he typed a quick message into their guilds group.  
  
Rhys : i joined Hyperion with a smurf account today. I think we get along quite fine ^^  
Sasha : don’t forget your mission, noodle :o  
Rhys : I told you to stop calling me that. Also, I won’t  
Fii : Then why do you you two get along?  
Vaughn: To gain his trust, of course!  
Rhys : yep. gonna sleep now. GN8  
Sasha : rest well, noodle man :3c  
  
Sasha was just impossible.

 

* * *

  
  
The next few days went by pretty similarly. After school and work Rhys would join Hyperion's TS and he would play with Jack. More often than not other people joined them; the other guild members slowly getting to know ‘Rey’.  
When they played and chatted Rhys was mostly honest about himself. The only thing he lied about was his real name and his past in _Vaults of Pandora_ . No one knew about his plan to gain their trust and spy on them until his _actual_ guild _VaultHunters_ would be able to attack.  
  
“Rey, how often do I have to repeat myself?   _Stop_ spamming your main attack. It’s-”

“...useless. I _know_ , but- I dunno, it just happens. Sorry, Jack.” Rhys mumbled into his microphone.  
He and Jack practiced player-versus-player strategies in an arena.  
“It’s okay. You just have to get the hang of it. Just imagine it’s like dance moves you repeat. Wait for the enemy to attack, dodge, stun them, get them on the ground, and use your special abilities, _maybe_ an AOE if there’s still time. If you use the combo I showed you with the assassin, it will result in an knock-back, so you can use your abilities once more because your opponent is defenseless for two more seconds.”

  
Though Rhys understood everything Jack told him, he still had problems following those instructions.  
“I’m just not fast enough…” He said, a hint of distress in his voice. Playing an assassin was so different from playing a knight.  
“You’ll learn. Which class did you play before? You said this is your second account?”  
“Yeah, I…” He thought for a second. Should he tell the truth? “I played a knight. But kinda grew bored of it.”  
“A knight! But those are great! As a tank or attack?” Jack asked, honest interest sparking in his voice.  
“Attack. I don’t know. I…” Should he venture to go ahead? “I always got killed in PVP, people stole my gear, I got betrayed… It wasn’t really fun anymore.”

  
“Hmm… Reminds me of my first days in an older MMO I used to play. You should show me your gear stand and how you set your skills. Maybe I can help you optimize it a bit.” Rhys could hear Jack scratch his beard stubble.  
“Because actually, an attack knight can be pretty strong in PVP, too. Used to play one myself. In the first beta, but still…”

 

* * *

 

“And since one of his relatives works for the game's publisher, he got to a key for every beta.” Rhys explained, while taking a sip of his coffee.  
He, Vaughn and Wilhelm hung around in Vallory’s shop; his friends keeping him company on his shift and talking about the last events.  
  
“Seems your getting along pretty well.” Vaughn sounded a bit envious.  
“Well, we _do_ hang around a lot. He isn’t as bad as we thought! Taught me a lot of stuff I need to show you when we’re online tonight. He told me how I can change my knights skills and gear to fit a PVP style so it should be easier to destroy Hyperion soon.”  
“So you still want to play with us and get back at them? My other friends already asked when we would fight them.” Wilhelm asked. The big guy was sitting on the countertop, playing with his phone.

“Don’t see you that much online these days.”  
“Because I spend a lot of time with Jack. Sorry, I’ll be online tonight.”  
He actually felt bad not playing with his friends anymore. Apparently the girls had leveled up a lot with the help of Vaughn and Wil.  
  
“You're not going anywhere if you’re not doing your job correctly. Get out boys, this young man is at work right now and I’m not a club for chit-chat and coffee.” Vallory said, stepping from the stock room of her shop. She looked more than angry.  
“How often do I have to say it, Rhys? Stop bringing your friends to work!”  
“I… I bought something.” Vaughn said, holding up a half eaten chocolate bar.  
“Oh for...” The elder woman sighed in irritation. “Just don’t scare my customers away.”  
She waved her hand in a shooing emotion and returned to her office back in the stockroom.  
  
“She’s still scary.” Vaughn whispered.  
“Reminds me of my mum.” Wilhelm admitted.  
“You say that all the time,” replied Rhys.  
“Because it’s true. But at least you got a job, Rhysie.”  Wil added with a deep chuckle.

* * *

 

 

 _Connecting to Hyperion’s TeamSpeak_  
_You were moved._  
  
The second Rhys connected to the guild’s TS, he found himself in one of the private chat channels.  
“That was fast. Hi Jack.” He said, a grin already forming on his lips.  
“I waited for you aaaaall day, pumpkin. Took you long enough.” Damn, Jack's voice sent shivers down his spine. There was just something about it, Rhys couldn’t describe it but he loved the other's voice.  
“You know I was at work.”  
“I don’t care. You have to talk and play with me. I missed yaaaaa.” Jack tried to sound extra sad and whiny.    
Rhys felt his stomach do a summersault.

“I- Sorry. Well, here I am.” He apologized lamely while logging into the game.  
  
“I’ve planned something special for us today!” Jack teased. “It will be a lot of fun!”  
“What is it?”  
“Hmmm… Tonight it will be just us two. Let’s call it a date!”  
Rhys heart started to pound really hard in his chest, his stomach doing another flip.  
“A… date?” He just had to ask. Date like, real-date? Online? He didn’t really understand but it got him excited all the same.  
  
“Awww. Yes, Rhysie. I’ll take you on an in-game date tonight. Let me surprise you. Or did you have any other plans?”  
“No, not really.” Rhys thought it over for a moment but couldn’t remember anything. “So what did you plan?”

* * *

  
  
Rhys was following Jack through a dense forest.  
“Where are we going?” He asked.  
“You’ll see,” was the only answer Jack told him and was otherwise unusually quiet.  
When he and Rhys normally played Jack  was bubbly. After getting to know each other the last 3 weeks they had started to talk about more personal stuff. They really grew close and considered the other as a friend even though they only knew each other through the internet.

  
Rhys didn’t know yet that Jack planned on changing that.  
  
“We’re close. Do you see this lever behind the bushes- we have to pull them at the same time to open the hidden entrance.” Jack instructed.  
Before them was stone pit, most of it totally destroyed with no NPC’s around.  
“Okay.” Rhys obliged and together they opened one of the few secret locations that were hidden all over the game’s map.  
  
With a loud and slowly crunch the collapsed mine that was hidden in the stone pit became visible as the bigger stones scattered to the side.  
“Woah,” Rhys murmured in awe, “that’s new!”  
“They included it in the most recent patch. No one knows about it yet. Come on!”  
Jack lead him through the mine. “Watch out, its got a labyrinth and I don’t want my date to get lost.” Jack teased.

  
When they reached the tunnels end a beautiful scene revealed itself to Rhys and Jack.  
Rhys realized that the mountain the mine had lead through was hollow and had an open peak. It was nearly midnight in-game and Jack had planned the timing perfectly.  
He made his character sit in the middle of the clearing where the moonlight reflected lazily on a little pond.  
It was really cheesy but Rhys again found his stomach doing flips. He made his character sit right next to Jack’s.  
  
“This place is really beautiful!” He admitted while taking a few screenshots that  
he had to send to his friends later.

 _… his friends_ , he suddenly remembered. He wanted to play with Vaughn and Co. today!  
‘Damn! I’m a horrible friend’ he thought. ‘I’ll have to apologize to them soon.’  
  
“You know. You’re the first one I ever showed this. Actually, no other player knows this even exists. Not yet.” Jack said nervously.  
“What? Then why are you showing _me_ this?”  
“Because I trust you. And because _I_ designed this place. Well, kinda. I told you about my relative who works for this game’s company? He _owns_ the company. And after I’m done with school I want to get into the gaming industry, too. My uncle gave me the chance to work for him- so what do you think of this place?”  
  
“Wow! It’s really beautiful- I like it a lot.” Rhys said. “Really. It’s quite romantic.”  
“That might change. We plan to make it into one of the tinier dungeons but I dunno yet. I kinda would like to keep it as it is right now.”  
“I think it’s great either way.” Rhys said while letting his character explore the area.  
  
The inner walls of the mountain were overgrown with flowers and ivy and he found a little stream that fed into the pond.  
“It still needs work and a lot of details but it was really fun to design everything.” Jack admitted.  
“It’s really stunning already, Jack.”  
“Thank you. Well… Actually I wanted to ask you if you’d like to take part in this project with me. Because you said once that you like game design too and… yeah.” Jack sounded unsure.  
“Are you _serious?_ Yes, Jack! That sounds awesome. Of course I’d love to help you!”

“You don’t even know how happy that makes me, kiddo.”  
“Kiddo? Jack, you're only 3 years older than me.” Rhys laughed.  
“So I’m not too old for you?” said Jack, clicking his tongue cheekily.    
  
‘Is he really flirting with me or am I reading too much into this?’ Rhys wondered and instead replied, “As if,” with a laugh.  
“Then… do you think your parents would allow you to meet up with me? .. for the project.”  
‘He wants to meet me, aaah!’ Rhys screamed internally. He had imagined meeting Jack in-person a few times now but had always chickened out to even ask him for his number.  
He was cautious about meeting online friends in-person  
but he’d known Jack for nearly a month now and he was always so nice…  
  
“I don’t know. I’d have to ask them. But… I don’t even know what you look like, Jack.”  
“Oh, we can change that right now, Rhysie. Just gimme your number and I’ll spam you with selfies!” Rhys knew he meant that.  
His hands shook when he wrote a private message with his number to Jack in-game.  
Now he was dying to know what Jack looked like. The image of a fat,ugly teen had already faded a few gaming sessions after they had played together for the first time butthat didn’t meant he had tried to imagine what Jack did look like.  
The vibration of his phone in his pocket woke him from his thoughts.  
  
Unknown : 

  
Rhys was staring at his phone. Staring and _staring_.  
  
“Got the picture?” Jack asked. “Or am I just so beautiful that you lost your voice?”  
‘Exactly…’ Rhys thought, swallowing nervously. ‘This _can’t_ be him!’  
After the first picture several others followed;  Jack sticking his tongue out, making a peace sign,him and a cat.  
“That’s my brother’s cat; it’s name is Claptrap.” Jack laughed. “It’d be nice if you’d say something though.”  
“Errr, sorry.” Rhys blushed _hard,_ He was simply stunned and giddy.  
“You look nice. T-to be honest, when I first played with you I imagined you totally different.”  
“Haha, I hear that often. Don’t worry. Here, have another one.”  
  
While the next picture loaded Rhys saved Jack’s number in his phone.  
_Handsome Jack sent a picture._ _  
_  
Rhys dropped his phone with a muted squeak.  
Jack was laughing maniacally.  
It was Jack in swim shorts on a pool party, smiling right into the camera and above him he held an inflatable pink, rubber unicorn for the pool. His abs stood out prominently.  
  
“That was last summer at our guild gathering. Everyone came to my house and we basically partied  for two whole days. We might do one again this year- hope so, anyway.” Jack explained.  
“I thought you were a gamer.” Rhys answered dryly.  
“Uh, yeah. Of course I am?”  
“Then _how_ can you have such defined _abs_?”  
Jack exploded into laughter and Rhys automatically joined him; the other boy’s laugh was way too contagious.  
When they calmed down after a few minutes Jack answered him as dryly asbefore: “So you’re eyeing my vulnerable, naked body? You perv.”  
“Eh… err…”  
“I bet your face is redder than a tomato right now.” Jack cackled again.  
  
But when Rhys still didn’t say anything he continued more serious than before, “That was a joke- I didn’t mean to startle you. Sorry, Rhysie.”  
Rhys coughed slightly. “I’m fine.”  
  
‘I just have a _huge_ crush right now.’ Rhys added in his thoughts.  
  
“So, I don’t wanna be too pushy but… do I get to see what you look like too?” Again there was this audible beard scratch but now Rhys knew where it was coming from.  
“Oh and don’t tell me you don’t got any- I’m not picky. I’ll take anything, even one with those ugly dog snapchat filters.”  
“I don’t have Snapchat.” Rhys answered. “Is my profile pic not enough?”  
“That’s a picture of a grey cockatiel, Rhys. Last time I checked birds didn’t play games.”  
“Ah yeah, I forgot about that. That’s my pet; his name is Zer0. I can send you more pictures of him, if you want.”  
“Noo come on, cupcake. We’re on a date! And I want to know what you look like- I showed you my face!” Jack practically begged.  
“Because you wanted to.”  
“Rhyieeeeee.”  
Rhys chuckled. He felt a bit insecure when he searched through his photo folder on his phone. At last he decided on a photo Sasha had taken a while ago when they had a picnic at the city’s park.  
  
Rhys : 

Handsome : * - *)♥  
  
Rhys blushed, internally screaming over the smiley.  
“Damn, cupcake. You don’t exactly look like a gamer either!”  
“My friend has a knack for taking photos of me when I’m daydreaming…”  
“She takes _very_ good pics. I totally wouldn’t mind if you wanted to spam me with pictures as well you know, Rhysie.” Jack hinted with absolutely zero subtlety .  
  
It wasn’t long before Jack was spammed with 20, **_20_** bird pictures.

  
And _maybe_ one other selfie...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Jack picture was made by me.  
> The awesome pic of Rhys was made by the lovely Tands (http://rhackrubbishh.tumblr.com/) Thanks dear, for allowing me to use it ♥


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dears, finally there's a little update! I hope you like it :)  
> Thank you for being such a fast and nice beta, May ♥
> 
> (Also depending on where you're from, there's a slight mention of underaged drinking - Where I come from it's legal if your 16yo ^^)

Vaughn : Rhys? What happened? We waited for you yesterday :(  
Rhys : Sorry Bro! I forgot. I was playing with Jack, it was so nice!  
Vaughn : You talked to him, but forgot your friends?  
Rhys : I feel bad now :( I’m sorry bro!  
Vaughn : What did you guys do?  
Rhys : Okay, this sounds a bit weird  
I trust you bro, you’re not going to tell the others, k?  
Vaughn : Of course. What happened? U ok?

It was the day after their date and Rhys told his best friend everything about it. He understood that Vaughn was a bit angry at him, since he had promised him and Wil that they would play last night.

Vaughn : You have a crush on him, Rhys :D  
Rhys : I dunno. Maybe…  
Vaughn : You’re not playing with anyone else since you know him, bro.  
You’re sending him selfies. The only one you send selfies was Sasha when you had a crush on her.  
I bet you use one of his pictures as your background! :D  
Rhys : Oh god, please don’t tell the others about the selfies… And I’m playing with him to get to know Hyperion  
Vaughn : I’m not going to say anything. What does he even look like?  
And Rhys… It’s already waaay more. I know you, bro ;)

Rhys send the first photo he had gotten from Jack to Vaughn.

Vaughn : So this is your type in guys?  
Rhys : Shut it bro xD This is a secret. You’re the only one who knows I’m bi  
Vaughn : Yes and thanks for trusting me with this. Just don’t forget your friends, okay?  
The girls, Wil, you and I… We should meet again. What do you think?  
Rhys : Yeah let’s do this soon.

 

* * *

 

3 days later, they met for a picnic in the park.  
Sasha and Fiona had made a gigantic amount of sandwiches.  
Rhys bought sweets from work and Wil got them some beer. Vaughn was in charge of a blanket that was big enough that everyone fit on it. Sadly Nisha couldn’t come.

The little park was at the edge of their home town. The little lake in the park reminded Rhys of the pond in Jack’s created hollow mountain ingame.  
He quickly took out his phone and send a photo of it to Jack.

“Oh, take one of me and Fi in front of it!” Sasha called out, dragging her sister in front the lake. “Uh, yeah, why not?”  
They ended up in making a few photos of their whole group which Sasha instantly put as their messengers group photo.

“I missed being with all of you!” she called out while stuffing a whole bacon sandwich into her mouth. “You shtoped talking to us, Rhysie.” She gulped. “Stopped playing with us. We need to do Raids again, we need our knight!”  
Rhys felt guilty. And he felt his phone buzzing in his jeans pocket.  
“I know. It’s just… I’m doing all this spying on Hyperion. I learned a lot of PVP mechanics I wanna show you soon. And…”  
“Rhys said to me, that a lot of their people aren’t that bad. Like peoplewise. They are just assholes ingame.” Vaughn interrupted.  
“Will we still want to pay them back? Seems like you found new friends, Rhys. Do you really want to betray them?”  
“Uh…” Rhys felt his phone buzz again a few times.  
“I don’t know a lot of them yet. I mostly play with their guild leader. I think he likes me.” He fished his phone out of his pocket, checking who was spamming him with messages.  
“He likes you? Ooooh, Rhys has a lover!” Fiona persecuted.  
Rhys didn’t look up from his phone but he could literally feel Vaughns knowing glance burn into him.

Handsome : Nice place! What are you doing?  
Answer meeee  
Reeeeeey, what are you doing? ;) U okay?  
Will you come only today, pumpkin?  
Rhys : I’m fine. I’m out with friends. We’re having a picnic.  
Dunno yet.

He wanted to put the phone back again but it buzzed right away.

Handsome : Please :( I’m lonely.  
I’d love to meet you and your friends. Especially you ;)

Rhys took a deep breath, blushing he wrote a fast reply, that he would meet Jack online tonight and then muted his phone.

“Look, seems like his lover wrote him! You’re blushing so hard, hahah!” Sasha laughed.  
“Maybe I had to find someone else because you dumped me?” Rhys answered. For a moment she looked shocked but then laughed when she saw Rhys bright smile.

“If I have someone, I will tell you guys. By the way, why isn’t Nisha with us?”  
“He parents found out she’s dating a girl and now she’s grounded for a while. They even confiscated her phone! Ahhh, thanks Rhys, now I miss her…” Fiona informed.  
Rhys immediately got up, walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.  
“Sorry to hear that. How do you guys stay in contact? If you can, of course?”  
“We skype late at night when her parents sleep or chat while playing online.”  
Wil cleared his throat. “We plan on inviting her family to my house because mine and Nish’s parents get along quite well and my mum said she will help Fi.”  
“We really need to hang out more again. I’m sorry for not talking to you guys as much as I used to.” Rhys took a sip of his beer. “I’m just busy with working and Hyperion stuff. Also my parents started to complain about my grades.”  
“Oooooh, don’t get me started on this topic. My parents got so mad when I didn’t bring my usual A’s on our last math test.” Vaughn now chipped in.  
“Pffffff, parents…” Wil sighed.

“Pffffff, parents…” everyone repeated.

 

* * *

 

When Rhys got home in the early afternoon, he jumped into comfy sweatpants and laid down on his bed for a moment while his computer booted.  
He then remembered that he had muted his phone and hastily checked it.

10 new messages, 3 missed calls

Handsome : Don’t let me wait too long :3  
I want to hear your voice again.  
Wanna know what I do?  
No?  
Well I’ll tell you anyway!  
I’m eating this awesome cake my brother made!!

Attached was a photo of besaid cake with a lot of whipped cream and strawberries. And then one of Jack, smiling and wielding a fork like a sword. Also one with him winking at the camera. Rhys felt his heart skip a beat and he looked at this photo for a while, getting kinda lost in Jack’s heterochromatic eyes. He opened the last photo Jack had send him and accidently dropped his phone right into his own face. He quickly grabbed it again, not sure if he had seen right.

He had.  
Jack’s face was slightly angled to the side, he was lasciviously looking right into the camera. Right into Rhys’ eyes. His mouth was slightly open, tongue sticking out he was licked some whipped cream from a big, red strawberry. Rhys twitched nervously.

Handsome : Cooooooome online  
Oi pumpkin! Did you block me?  
Or just no time to answer?  
I’m waiting on TS for you babe ♥ ;)

Rhys smile grew. He put his phone down, pressing it against his chest and taking a deep breath. Again he had to realize how much of a crush he had on Jack. Fricking Vaughn was damn right. Rhys dragged himself from his bed in front of his computer, logging into his favourite game and onto the Hyperion TeamSpeak server.

Connecting to Hyperion’s TeamSpeak  
You were moved.

“Oh Jack…” Rhys laughed. “Faster than Sonic.”  
“I waited for you, Rey! You weren’t answering any of my messages. I worried!” Rhys could literally hear Jack pouting.  
“I’m here now, right? So no need to worry anymore. And I didn’t answer because my phone was muted and my friends wanted me for their own.”  
“And now I can have you all to myself! Haaah!” Jack sighed. “Did you get my pictures?”  
“Yes! I’m so envious on that cake.”  
“Hmmm… The cake or the strawberry?”  
“...” Rhys didn’t know what to say and fiddled with a random pen on his desk, while the memory of Jack’s face came back to his mind. “Uhm… Both?”

“I can literally sense you blushing, cutie, haha!” Jack teased. “I still got cake. You know… You could come visit and have some with me?”  
“For real?” Rhys asked.  
“Rey! Do you really think I would joke about something like this? I mean… we already had a date ingame… so basically it would be our second one...”

Rhys muted his microphone and made a few squeak noises, then put his face in hands and the widest smile appeared on his face.  
Oh god, I’m so lost…, Rhys thought.  
“Kiddo? You’re there? I… Would you like to visit? Or not?” Okay, Jack definitely sounded nervous.  
“Wait. Gimme a minute, Jack.”  
Rhys took all his courage, picked up his phone and made a selfie with his thumb up. His face was still red and he couldn’t stop smiling, but he didn’t care and he knew, Jack wouldn’t also.  
So he sent the pic to Jack.  
“Look on your phone, dum-dum.” Rhys said.

 

Handsome : OMG  
So this is a yes?!  
Rhys : Yes xD  
Handsome : Ahhh ♥

“Aaaaah! You look so cute in this picture, you know? You should send me more selfies, by the way.” Jack commented in TeamSpeak. “And why did you let me wait so long? You could have just say yes.”  
“If you can tease me, so can I.” Rhys responded.  
“When did I tease you?”  
“Ehem. That strawberry picture.” He snapped back at Jack.  
“Oooooh. So you liked it? Good.” The other one definitely sounded proud. “So you like lewd stuff? Didn’t think you were like that. You seemed pretty sheepish, pumpkin.”  
“Oh my god, Jack, stop teasing me. Or I might not come visiting!”  
Jack stopped right away. Instead he asked Rhys where he was living and checked the distance between them. It was a bit less than an hour by train, so totally doable.

“Here’s my address. Wanna come next weekend? If you’re free I mean.” Jack asked hopeful.  
“I’ll ask my parents if it’s okay. Is saturday okay?”  
“I’d say stay saturday and sunday. It’s still an hour between us…”  
Rhys though. “So, I could stay overnight?”  
“Of course! We have a guest room, if you worry about me, hahaha!”  
Jack made both of them laugh. Rhys started to feel nervous. So this was really happening. He planned to visit Handsome King. Visit Jack. His crush…  
Rhys had to inform his bro instantly.

And he already knew how Vaughn would react.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is full of MMO feels before we get to the meeting of Jack and 'Rey'.  
> Thanks for beta reading, May!!  
> Have fun reading and happy 3. sunday of advent ♥

Rhys woke up from his phone ringing. He wanted to nag about the one waking him so early on a sunday morning but when he checked his phone he saw that it was his alarm.

He remembered he had set it the evening before, because there was a lot he wanted to get done today.  
  
Grumpily he got up and switched from T-shirt and shorts into daily clothes.  
Trying to be as quiet as possible he walked downstairs, not wanting to wake his parents. He put on shoes and his favourite jacket; a blue summer jacket with a white hood and white stripes on the left side.  
It was a crisp fall morning, the sun already rising. Rhys couldn’t resist to take a picture and send it with a “Good morning!” to Jack.  
  
The walk to the bakery was just 10 minutes. He was greeted by a friendly lady behind the counter who took his order with a big smile.  
Rhys left the shop with a bag full of bagels and buns, knowing that his parents would be happy about this gesture of him preparing their breakfast.  
  
At home, he set the table and woke his parents, who could guess that something was up when their son was so nice. But Rhys acted like nothing was wrong, he was just trying to be generally nice and asked how his parents slept and how their work was going, until his dad asked: “Okay, Rhys. Did something happen? Did you get a bad grade or accidently signed a contract in your games or something? Because it’s 9 o’clock now and you never get up before 12’ on sunday.” He smiled but his eyes showed some concern as well.  
  
Rhys scratched his head. “No, Dad. Don’t worry. I was just trying to be nice.”  
“So you _want_ something…” his Dad grinned, nodding towards his wife. “We know our son.”  
His son stirred his hot chocolate, avoiding his parents’ glare.  
“Well. There _is_ something I wanted to talk about.”

“Aha and what is it?” His mom proceeded.  
“I would like to meet a new friend of mine. But he lives one hour away and I wanted your ‘Okay’ before I go…”  
  
Just as Rhys had predicted, his parents were concerned about this stranger Rhys only knew through the internet. Through his strange game he loved so much.  
But he hadn’t guessed, that they would actually let him go without a lot of arguing.

The only condition they set was that Rhys was always reachable via his phone and that he would tell his parents when he arrived, etc. …  
Their son was more than happy to tell Jack and his bro.  
  
Rhys : They said yes! My parents said I can visit you next weekend!  
Handsome : Wow, that’s awesome! I’m glad :D  
 We have to look up when your train will get here etc!

 

* * *

 

Rhys : BRO!  
So, yesterday something crazy happened!  
Vaughn : BRO!  
what happened?  
Rhys : He invited me to his house! Jack invited me to meet him!!  
Vaughn : Are you serious?  
I mean, cool!  
And you will go meet him?  
Rhys : You don’t sound so happy :/  
Of course. Next weekend! My parents already gave their okay  
Vaughn : Yeah, bc... Are you sure? You met him ingame. He’s a total stranger to you,  bro. You should be careful!  
Rhys : I think he’s not a stranger anymore. I talk a lot to him. We’re friends.  
Vaughn : And he could be whoever! Maybe it’s an old man talking to you?  
Rhys : His voice doesn’t sound like an old man and you saw the picture.  
Vaughn : Yes. Just… Bro you have to be careful. Can I maybe call you, when you visit him?  
Rhys : My parents suggested the same. Of course you can, you’re my bro!  
And I promise to be careful. I’m just SO HAPPY. I really like him ._.  
Vaughn : Awww, Rhys, you have a goddamn crush.  
If you’re free, come online? We’re all online, playing :)  
Rhys : You can bet on that!

 

* * *

 

“I’m still farming stones. We need sooo many of them. It’s annoying.” Fiona whined.  
“Hey, I can come and help you? There’s a cave where we can get a lot of them and the resources respawn quickly.” Rhys suggested. He sent his friend a group invite and used a fast travel station to meet her at the cave.  
“This cave inhabited by spiderants, just farm, whenever they respawn I kill them quickly.”  
“Are you sure?” Fi asked.

“Yes, Fi. You’re gaining skill so much higher than his.” Wilhelm added. “When we have the last stones our guild castle will be done soon. Finally.”  
  
“It’s so weird playing my knight again, after hours of being an assassin”  
“Yes, of being an ass!” Sasha joked. “You’re finally playing with us again, aaaaw. What’s with your lover?”  
“He’s not my lover.” Rhys denied. “Not yet” he whispered, too low that his microphone wouldn’t pick up his words.  
  
_Hatlady_ , Fiona's character was digging through a big stone wall when the first spiderants arrived. _RhysWinz_ braced himself, rising his shield and sword. A single spiderant wasn’t a threat but in groups they could get dangerous. Luckily both players were above this area’s level so even a spiderant group wouldn’t do much damage.

“Don’t let them hit me or I will get interrupted in gaining. And have to start over.” Fi reminded Rhys. “I know.”  
  
The knight jumped forward, slashing through the first two ants with a single slice. Another one jumped against his shield he had but up exactly in the right moment. From his right an ant queen crawled out from under a rock and released a series of high pitched screeches, which resulted in a shower of ants from the caves ceiling.  
“What he hell, Rhys? She just spawn her babies! You have to kill her first!” Fiona called out.  
“I know? But she just spawned as well. There was no way I could kill her before?”  
“Do you guys need any help?” Vaughn asked but was cut of by Rhys. “Of course not. Those are just spiderants…”  
  
Tiny ants crawled around the knight and his mate. _Hatlady_ had enough of them, she stopped her work on the wall, did a backflip and drew he weapon, a long ranged glaive. Spinning it around her head and body, she quickly took care of those ants herself.  
Everytime her weapon touched an ant it died right away, dropping a bit money and stones as loot. “Hah, the drop stones! Let’s just farm them.” Fiona suggested.  
“Don’t kill the queens, they will spawn more loot for us.”  
  
_Hatlady_ and _RhysWinz_ shredded through the army of spider ants, working perfectly as a team. Whenever a bigger ant would jump at them, the knight would simply hold up his shield, effectively blocking them and the following stung effect was perfect for Fiona's character to just struck them down with her weapon.  
  
This would go on for half an hour, efficiently farming stones, until something unexpected happened.  
  
A blue spiderant queen spawned next to Rhys, he waited for her to scream and spawn her children before he killed her.  
But nothing happened when she called, so he just killed her anyway.  
Until a loud roar and screech made him flinch in front of his computer.  
“What was _that_ ?” Fiona asked, obviously nervous.  
“Something happened?” Vaughn asked.  
  
**Spiderant King (World boss) spawned in a cave** **  
****  
**“Are you kidding me? You triggered the spiderant king?” Vaughn screamed upset. “You know this thing has one of the rarest percentage ingame to get spawned by a queen?”  
“Are you serious?” Fiona asked.  
Their whole group could read the world chat where people freaked out about the game’s announcement, since it had popped up on everyone's screen when the king screamed.  
One of the chat names stood out right away to Rhys.  
  
_HandsomeKing_ > in which goddamn cave? Hyperion’s on his way, no one touches my loot!  
  
Rhys couldn’t stop his smile, this was definitely the Jack he got to know. At least ingame. When they talked the other one was so much nicer.  
A lot of people asked in which cave the king spawned but only Fiona and Rhys knew for sure.  
“Wil, Vaughn, Sasha? Will you join us? If we do enough damage until the other players on this server find out where it spawned, we will get better loot. Right?”  
“Yes.” Wil confirmed. “Where are you guys?”  
“Northern cave, near the ice shore. I’ll ping my position in guild chat.” Rhys informed.  
He was really careful to only post it into the guild chat, not accidently world chat.

 

* * *

 

Rhys’ phone buzzed a few times beside him on the desk.  
  
Handsome : Rey! Where are you?  
 There’s a rare world boss and you’re not online!  
 Come on! We’re gonna get nice loot :)

Rhys : I’m sorry I can’t, I’m busy with friends  
  
Rhys lied. Well kinda lied, because he _was_ online but not with the character Jack knew about. For a brief second Rhys thought about what might happen when Jack found out but then Vaughn reminded him of the fight they were currently in.  
  
Their guild had already done quite some damage when a few other players arrived in the cave and started to hit the king as well. And after someone announced the position in world chat, hell was going on and more and more players joined them in the cave.  
Rhys was busy protecting his friend’s characters with his shield, but he could make out a few players with an Hyperion tag above their name.

  
And then Hyperion started their own raid, in killing of people that tried to hit on the world boss.  
“Those guys… Now they are killing the other players!” Sasha said angrily.

“It’s Hyperion, what did _you_ think they would do?” Fiona lectured her sister.

“Hmm… Maybe just enjoying the game how it was supposed to be? I mean, Vaughn said that this boss is really rare!”  
“And that’s why they are killing of other players. They want more loot for themselves. That’s why we got killed by this other Hyperions guy that one time.” Rhys explained to her.  
“Just stay together and in Vaughn’s healing range, okay? We already made a lot of damage to the king so we will definitely get some nice loot.”  
  
_HandsomeKing_ to _RhysWinz_ > hey, didn’t i kill u b4?  
_HandsomeKing_ to _RhysWinz_ > i remember ur name. and i usually don’t do that

 _HandsomeKing_ to _RhysWinz_ > u and ur guild should leave, b4 we kill u again  
  
Rhys ignored Jack’s messages. The king was already really low on health and he didn’t want to go now.  
“I’m under attack! Someone is attacking me!” Sasha screamed in her microphone. “Help!”  
Rhys could make out _HandsomeKing_ next to Sasha. Without thinking, his knight rolled forward and then blocked the assassins attack with his shield.  
Instead of Sasha now he was under attack. Rhys knew he would die, but he stayed alive a lot longer thanks to Vaughn’s healing and because Rhys knew Jack’s techniques, being his student in Hyperion.  
  
**_RhysWinz_ ** **was killed by** **_HandsomeKing_ ** **_  
_****_  
_ ** **Spiderant King (World boss) was killed**

 

“Oh it’s gone! Oh no, Rhys.” Fiona commented. “Aaaaah, I got so much money, oh my god!”  
“It’s okay, I can’t lose EXP anymore, other than Sasha. Did anyone else get nice loot?” Rhys said, while waiting for the game to finish the respawn animation of his knight.  
“Lots of money… Oh and one of those accessory  boxes” Vaughn answered.  
“Same.” Wil said. “And you?”  
“I’m just checking my invento… HOLY SHIT!” Rhys shouted and then started to laugh loudly.  
“Oh my god!”  
“What happened?” “He sure as hell got something nice.” “I hate you Rhys.” “No you don’t, Sis.” Everyone said confused  
  
“I got the ‘ _legendary double swords of spiderant king, king of all ants’_ ...” Rhys said while smiling like an idiot. “But they are not for your class?” Sasha said.  
“Technically, no they aren’t. But I have an assassin on my second account and since there’s no levelcap for gear…”  
“You are suuuch a lucky noodle.”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile Jack sat in front of his own computer, thinking about why the name Rhys sounded so familiar and why he remembered killing the knight once before, when normally he didn’t care about other players he had killed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back for the moment. It felt sooo good to have my motivation back to write! I'm so sorry for everyone who waited so long for the following chapter.  
> It was so much fun to write this and I tried to make it extra long for you <3 I hope you have fun reading.  
> Huunous you are amazing, thanks for betaing this chapter! * - *)♥  
> 'Rey' and Jack finally meet!

One week later, after Rhys had lunch with his parents, he was on the train to Jack. Luckily he got a seat at the window from which he could observe the moving landscape outside.  
Fields and forests drew past and he passed one after another train station while his destination still seemed so painfully far away.  
His mp3-player jumped from one to another song and Rhys’ mind was spinning, trying to imagine how meeting Jack in person would feel like. He was especially nervous because he had made up his mind and wanted to clarify that ‘Rey’ was a fake name. He just didn’t know how and was especially scared of Jack’s reaction.  
He wrote a message to Vaughn to calm his nerves.  
  
Rhys : I don’t know if I can pull this off. I shouldn’t have lied to him in the first place!  
Vaughn : You can do it! Better tell him now than lying to him further, right?  
Rhys : Yeah… But HOW am I supposed to tell him without explaining our revenge?  
Vaughn : Hmmm… Maybe that the internet is a dangerous place? Idk bro, sry :/  
Rhys : Thanks for trying. Gonna give my best.  
          There’s only 20 mins to drive left. I am so nervous!!!  
Vaughn : I hope you have a good time. But don’t forget to write me once in a while!  
Rhys : Of course bro :)

  
Rhys put his mobile back in his jacket’s pocket only to take it out again after a few seconds; checking the time for theumpteenth time. He opened the front camera and checked himself out. His hair was perfectly styled backwards as always, looking healthy and shiny.  
After all these years he was used to his mismatched eyes but when he thought of Jacks’ own heterochromatic eyes he was somehow amazed by them.  
He was also _so thankful_ that his face didn’t have the audacity to come up with a pimple or anything.  
When Rhys realized how long he was looking at his own face he quickly put his phone down and checked if anyone had seen him like this. What am I doing?, he thought and wanted to store it in his pocket again when it vibrated two times. Jack had send him a photo of a train station platform.  
  
Handsome : I’m at my station, waiting for you :)  
                   Will your train be on time?  
Rhys: Yes it’s on time! Actually even a bit earlier I think  
Handsome : Awesome! I’m waiting at the platform you’re going to arrive at c:  
  
Rhys tried to distract himself with a mobile game but he still felt a bit shaky. When the train conductor announced that they’d arrived in a few minutes, Rhys nearly jumped up from his seat, collected his belongings and put on his jacket. He was the only passenger that stood in front of the train exit to leave as soon as possible.  
He felt unbelievable watched by the other passengers and just wanted to get out.  
Then the train stopped with a jerk that made Rhys stumble a bit after which he caught himself on the handle of the door, that afterwards started to open slowly.  
  
Outside a few people were waiting to enter the train which made Rhys quickly leave the cart to let them in. As there were only a hand full of people on the platform, that either told goodbye to family and friends or that entered the train, it was pretty easy to spot Jack there.  
The older boy was wearing a bright yellow hoodie with a white ‘Hyperion’ print on the front, dark blue jeans and brown sneakers. His hair was _perfectly_ styled into his known flip.  
He stood there relaxed, hands in his jeans pockets, a wide smile on his face while he was directly looking at Rhys, who clasped his bag and made his way to his friend.  
  
Jack’s smile grew even wider and he gave him a short and welcoming hug.  
“You made it! Hey!” he said.  
“Yes! And even in one piece.” Rhys joked.  
He felt his heart racing and hoped his voice didn’t sound shaky.  
_Damn_ why do I feel so nervous?, he thought. Probably because he _did_ fall a bit for Jack.  
“I’d punch anyone that would’ve threaten ya, haha.”   
“Oh, thanks.” Rhys laughed too.  
  
Rhys felt less awkward when he sat in Jack’s car, a hot coffee-to-go from the station in his hands, watching Jack skip through the playlist on his stereo.  
“Is there anything you’d like to hear, Rey?” he asked.  
“Naah, I trust your taste in music for now.”  
Shortly after soft rock tunes filled the car and Jack brought his vehicle on the streets.    
Jack had a pleasant style of driving and Rhys wondered how the older boy could look so cool while only driving. Am I staring too much at him?, he asked himself.  
  
“So, do you have your driving license?” Jack asked, giving him a quick glance before watching the traffic again.  
“Not yet. I’m saving up for it. But I hope I can get it when I turn 18 soon.”  
“I made mine with 17. I love driving. I’m so happy I got this car for my birthday though. Well, it actually isn’t _my_ car because I have to share it with my brother. But ya get the deal.”  
It took them 20 minutes to get to Jack’s house. It was a rather big family house with a neat driveway and a little porch. The stairs to the door were decorated with sunflowers and orange ribbons.  
“My mum likes to decorate stuff, even if she’s rarely at home.” Jack explained while parking the car in front of a big garage.  
“I think it looks nice.”  
“Thanks, kiddo. Believe it or not, I even cleaned my room for you! Haha!”  
“Don’t make me too excited. If it looks better than mine I might never leave.” Rhys gave Jack a wink. Is that too much flirting? Oh god, Rhys tried to calm himself down.  
“Come, I’ll show you around.”  
  
“And this is my room - TADAA!” Jack opened the door to his room.

  
Rhys looked around and came to the conclusion that he liked it. Not to stuffed and easy on the eyes. A few books and magazines on a shelf as well as gaming consoles. One shelf was full of family photos. The big bed in the corner of the room was made neatly.  
A big poster hung above it, showing one of the vault monsters from their favorite game.  
“What do you think?” Jack asked.  
Rhys placed his bag on the sofa and looked around once more before giving Jack an approving smile. “Looks good. It fits you.”  
“Make yourself at home. We have a guestroom but as our house is rather big I figured out you might like to sleep on my sleeping couch here. Whatever pleases you… I mean…”

“ _Meow!_ ” Jack was interrupted by a curry colored cat jumping from the cushions on besaid couch. “Oh, that must be Claptrap” Rhys guessed. He offered the cat his hand which sniffed him, then nudged it with its head only to afterwards run out of the room.  
“I… uhm, would it really be okay to sleep here?” Rhys asked. His head definitely created wrong images right now.  
“I wouldn’t mind. Otherwise I can show you where the guestroom is.”  
That’s your chance!, Rhys’ heart screamed.  
“Well,my  parents don’t need to know right? I think they’d get mad since we’re only meeting for the first time.”  
‘Yes Rhys, you just sound like a 12 year old child saying this…’  
“Don’t worry, my mother would think the same. It’s cool.” Jack reassured him while booting his computer in the other corner.  
“You have three monitors?” Rhys tried to change the topic.  
“Yes, for my game, my TeamSpeak and for random windows like my browser, music etc…”  
“I only have one and am fine.” Rhys teased, leaning on Jacks chairback where the other one sat.  
“Oh trust me, Rey, if you ever had more, you wouldn’t want to go back to one. It’s so convenient.”

Rhys was standing shoulder to shoulder with his crush. He was so near. Although his heart was still racing like crazy, he also felt a calm spreading through his body.  
He wondered what Jack felt like.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack feeling nervous was an understatement. He couldn’t believe Rey was at his house. That he finally met him. It was so hard playing cool. Since they had hugged so short at the train platform, Jack thought about touching Rey again. How it would feel to hold his hand or even kiss him. As their shoulders touched so lightly right now, he felt like little electric shocks waved through his body.   
Meanwhile Rey seemed so calm.Though he did seem to flirt with him as well.  
That freaking wink a few minutes ago had gone straight to his lower parts...  
“Wanna see my game setup?” He asked. He didn’t really like the silence in the room.  
“Yes, absolutely!” Rey said.  
So Jack went back into the dining room they came through earlier and brought a chair for Rey to sit while he took a seat on his gaming chair.  
He started _Vaults of Pandora_ and was glad when they had a topic to discuss on.

A few hours later a knock on the door interrupted their discussions.  
“Jack? Is your guest already here?” A male voice asked followed by another knock.  
“Yes, he is. Come in, Tim.”

A moment later a second Jack entered the room.   
Well at the first glance it could have been Jack. The boy entering the room was a bit thinner, wore totally different clothes and was shaved. And if Rhys would look closer he’d notice that Tim also had a few freckles on his nose.  
  
“That’s my younger twin brother, Timothy. Timtams, that’s my friend Rey.” Jack introduced.  
Tim came closer and shook Rey’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Rey! So you’re the one my brother won’t shut up about? Ouch!” Jack had kicked him against his shinbone.  
It made Rey giggle and Jack loved to hear this sound even more in real life than ingame.  
“You ass! Also shut up about you being older! I was born only 3 minutes after you.” Tim rubbed his leg. “Sorry Rey. Well, I just wanted to ask if you guys would like to order pizza, as dinner time is nearing. I’ll even pay if you stop kicking me.”

“Could I get a salami pizza?” Rey asked. “Of course. And what do you want, _big brother?_ ”  
“Chilli as always.”  
“Okay, then it’s chilli for you and salami for _your boyfriend_ .” Tim said, dodging Jacks fist and leaving the room. “I hate him.” Jack’s head turned red but when he looked towards Rey he was almost happy that Tim had said this.  
Rey was staring at him, face even redder than he thought his own could be. Glossy eyes obviously not knowing what to say. Actually Jack enjoyed this face a lot. Enjoyed Rey looking so _flustered_ .  
“So apparently you’re not my friend but my boyfriend now.” He teased but hoped not to crossing a line with this.  
  
As Rey only tried to nervously dodge his eyes he was certain that the boy liked him back.  
It was the moment Jack felt himself calm down and actually gaining back some of his true self confidence.  
“I wouldn’t mind, ya know.” He said with a joking undertone. Actually he was dead serious.  
Okay, that was risky, he knew. But they were texting for like two or three months now, they had dates ingame and Rey had finally come to his house to visit him. Speculating that their feelings were mutual was just common sense… or wasn’t it?  
“Mind what?” Rey asked and made Jack snort.  
“I wouldn’t mind you being my boyfriend, dumdum. Ya know… We’ve been texting for a while now, always talking on TS…”  
“I… Jack… I mean you’re right. But...”  
Jack took one of Rey’s hands between his, holding it lightly.  
“Before you overthink anything right now, Rey. I like ya. I think you’re pretty and thinking about you makes me crazy. I just thought this was a good moment to tell you. I’m sorry if I’ve made things a bit weird right now but…” Jack cut of mid sentences when Rey lunged forward on his seat. He thought… no hoped Rey was going to kiss him but then he only hugged him, nudging Jack’s shoulder with his forehead.

 

* * *

 

“Calm down.” Rhys said, more talking to himself than to Jack. His heart was racing in his chest and he was happy being able to hide his face while hugging Jack. Never had he guessed Jack would confess to him. At least not so soon.  
“I like you, too, Jack.” Rhys swallowed hard. He had promised Vaughn to take things slowly, but he never would have thought Jack would confess to him today.  
“I like you too, but I’d like to take things slowly.” He hoped that wouldn’t turn Jack off. Jack hugged him back and Rhys could feel him taking a shaky breath.  
“That’s okay.” They hugged closer and Rhys knew he didn’t want to let go for a while. He had wondered how it would feel to touch Jack.  
“You know, it feels so great to hug you.” Jack expressed what Rhys felt.  
“I agree.” Rhys answered.  
  
Jack pulled him closer so Rhys actually had to shift from his own chair onto Jack’s lap. He felt the other nosing along his neck.  
“Never asked you if you’re in a relationship though.” Jack noticed.  
“Single as a pringle. I could ask you the same?”  
“Same for me.” Jack chuckled and Rhys could feel lips pressing on his neck, while his head grew hot.  
“Uhm… Jack? Can we… What if your brother comes in again?”  
“He already thinks we’re a couple, cupcake.”  
“Bu-but are we?” Rhys asked, feeling unsure, because yes, they had confessed but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.  
“Would you like to?” Jack had put some distance between them so they were able to look each other in the eyes. Rhys nervously ran his fingers through his hair before giving a quick, nearly not visible nod. “I’d like to. Yes.”  
Rhys winced when his phone buzzed in his jeans pocket. This was absolutely the wrong timing for someone to message him.  Excusing he got up from Jack’s lap to read the new message.

Vaughn: Here’s your bro’s is-Rhys-is-still-alive-check-up! Are you alright, bro?  
Rhys: Yes! Oh god Vaughn, he’s so nice and cute and idk kinda hot? Help I’m so  nervous!  
Vaughn: haha xD What are you guys doing?  
Rhys: He showed me his house and we’re sitting at his computer. We’re having  pizza soon. I think he wanted to kiss me a moment agooo aah!  
  
“Everything okay, Rey?” Jack asked concerned while Rhys was hectically tipping on his phone.  
“Yes. Remember I told you my family and friend want a check up?” Jack nodded.  
“I’ll just let them know that I’m fine and that you are, who would have guessed, _not_ murdering me.” Rhys gave his crush a big smile while resuming his conversation with his best friend.

Vaughn: Okay, so you guys are already all lovey-dovey?  
               Just don’t come home, telling me you’re pregnant or something xD  
Rhys: Don’t worry, I told him I want to take it slow. So is your check up done?  
Vaughn: Yes! Have fun, bro!

“And? Are they believing you that I’m not a killer?” Jack asked while getting up from his chair and hugging Rhys from behind; now no restraint left to touch the other.  
“I hope so.” Rhys answered.  
“Should we go downstairs and see how far dinner’s going?”

Jack took Rhys’ hand in his and pulled him to the living room.  
The pizza was amazing and dinner was a lot of fun with his brother and Rey. Luckily Tim behaved well and only made one more joke about them ‘being in _looooove_ ’.  
Jack was happy though, especially when he got to be alone with Rey in his room again.

“Want to log into your own account and do your dailies? Afterwards we could watch a movie or something?” Jack suggested.  
“Can I? That’d be great.”

* * *

 

Rhys switched seats with his _boyfriend_. He was thrilled to actually call Jack this now. He couldn’t wait to see his friends and tell them how great Jack was in reality. How good he looked and how nice he smelled. How soft his touches were. Okay, maybe not too many details, he decided. He restarted the game, logging into his account as he did everyday.

Name/Email: **_RhysWinz  
_ ** Password: **_************_ **

He he hit enter, he realized his mistake. _That_ was the _wrong_ account.   
Taking a quick glance at Jack he hoped the other hadn’t seen it. And even if Jack didn’t show any signs he had noticed, Rhys felt his pulse rise. The loading screen felt incredibly long at this moment and Rhys thought about exiting the game via Alt+F4 to hide his mistake. But that seemed pretty obvious as well. Maybe he could quickly relog and when Jack asked why he just explained he simply had a twink account?

When the screen finally changed to the game itself, Jack shifted next to him. Rhys turned around, wanting to ask what’s up but Jack took the mouse and keyboard so quickly from him, that Rhys didn’t know what was actually hitting.   
In a matter of seconds Jack had opened the inventory and character window of Rhys’ character and scrolled through the infos.

_I’m so fucked_ , Rhys thought. He wished the ground would open up and suck him in. Let him vanish from earth and take him as far away as possible from Jack.   
_This_ was the most horrible mistake he could have done. Logging into the wrong account he was lying about. To his _boyfriend._

There was no time to find the right words to explain himself as Jack turned around, his mismatched eyes looking directly into Rhys’ ones. He looked offended.

“Explain this?” he demanded.  
“Uhm…”  
“This is the shit annoying account I ganked. Is… is this yours?” Jack asked upset.  
“Yes?” Rhys said that much more quiet that he had intended to. He felt so vulnerable and caught.  
“And you’re the guild leader that introduced a guild war with _Hyperion_?”  
“Me and my friends…”  
Jack squinted his eyes, than shook his head.  
“ _Why?_ ”  
“Because you ganked us. Your guild bullied my friends. I had enough when you took my drop that time in the dungeon.” Rhys tried to explain. He was afraid that Jack was mad.  
“Why did you lie to me about your second account then?”  
“We’re just… Okay, please don’t get mad okay?” Rhys raised his hand in a capitulating manner.

“We’re just a small guild. We’re not good in PVP. I made a second account and joined _Hyperion_ because I… I kinda wanted to get to know the enemy.” He confessed. His hands dropped into his lap and dipped his head, staring at the ground that still wouldn’t open to free him from this situation.   
“So you lied to me from the beginning? How did you think this would _end_ ? Wait - is your name even Rey? Are you who you _pretend_ to be?” Now Jack really sounded concerned.  
“Look, err, I’m s-sorry. Rey is not _exactly_ my name. It’s Rhys. I changed my name back then because I thought you would be reminded of my ingame name. Otherwise I… I never-” tears rose into Rhys’ eyes and soft sobs mixed into his words.   
“I wanted to tell you my real name… anyways. I’m so sorry, Jack, I-”  
Ashamed Rhys hid his face in his hands and he turned around with the office chair.

Only to get turned back around by Jack. His voice was much softer when he spoke to Rhys.   
“Don’t cry. Uhm. I’m not mad, okay? Look at me, please?”  
Slowly Rhys raised his head. His teary eyes found Jack’s face.  
“You’re a weirdo, Rey. I mean, Rhys. Doing all of this because you got ganked? Fighting against the biggest PVP guild ingame…” Jack chuckled.  
“Even if you lied, that won’t change my feelings for you, okay?”  
Rhys rubbed his eyes and sniffed a few more times. “Okay. I’m sorry.”  
  
Jack offered him a hand and Rhys shyly took it. Quickly he got pulled into the other boys embrace. “If you have anything else to admit, maybe you should say it now.”  
Again Rhys sat on Jack’s lap, now hiding his face in the crook of the others neck.  
“I’m sorry I lied to you. At first everything was just…a joke? I don’t know… But then I got to know you. Everyday I couldn’t wait to get home from work or school to talk to and play with you.  
I felt bad about lying to you. And I really like you.”  
Rhys head felt incredibly hot while admitting this.

“I like you too, Rhysie.”   
“Rhysie? Another nickname?” Rhys chuckled. He felt Jack nosing his scalp and planting a peck on his hair. “Yeah, I like to give you nicknames, cupcake.”  
“Will… Can you forgive me?”  
“Hmm… Maybe? Only if I’m allowed to cuddle you a bit longer.”  
Rhys agreed with a nod, pressing himself closer towards Jack’s warm body.  
“How about we watch a movie and move to the sofa?” Jack suggested.  
“I’d like that.”

 

* * *

 

It was past midnight when Jack woke up. His room was quite dark, only illuminated by the menu screen of his TV. Disoriented he looked around and realized he fell asleep on the sofa, trapped under a sleeping Rhys; the other’s head planted on Jack’s upper torso.  
He had to be really careful as he moved to fetch the remote since he didn’t want to wake his boyfriend. _Boyfriend_ . Jack snickered. Finally he had told Rhys that he liked him.  
And it was a freaking great feeling that the other felt the same.

He examined the younger sleeping man in his arm. His face looked so soft like this. His _lips_ looked especially soft and Jack suppressed the urge to kiss the other. Hugging was fine, the cuddling while watching movies a few hours ago was even better, but the feeling of getting even closer to his crush was nearly unbearable.  
But Rey has said he wanted to take it slow and Jack respected that. Secretly he hoped they wouldn’t take _too_ long because he was crazy for that boy.  
_Rhys_ , he corrected himself. He’s Rhys, not Rey. Logging in with the wrong account… Jack shook his head. So clumsy. But Jack just couldn’t be mad when Rhys had cried. He saw how bad the younger one had felt when telling him the truth. And he believed him, that Rhys was just trapped in his own lies and hadn’t known how to tell Jack.   
But that guild war Rhys had talked about would still happen!, Jack decided with an evil grin.  
  
Rhys shifted next to him, slowly waking up with a hum.  
“Jack?”  
“I’m here. Sorry did I wake you? I just wanted to turn off the TV right now.”  
Rhys cracked an eye open and looked damn cute doing that.  
“I need to pee…” he said sleepily. “We fell asleep watching the movie, huh?”  
“Then go, you know where the bathroom is. And yeah I think we did.” Jack got up from the couch and helped Rhys to stand.  
“I’ll extend the couch so you can sleep more comfortably when you come back.” Jack said while Rhys went for the bathroom.

From the floor he could hear Rhys saying he shouldn’t. Confused he did it anyways; rearranging the cushions and fluffing up the blanket they had used before.  
He turned the TV off and turned on the lamp on his nightstand.  
Then he proceeded to take of his shirt and slip on his pyjama pants. When he was done he turned around , finding a smiling Rhys leaning next to the doorframe, watching him.

“Like what you see?” Jack teased, opening his arms, showing off his naked torso.   
“Since the first selfie you showed me.” Rhys confessed. He took a leap and jumped into Jack’s arms, demanding a hug. Why is he such a cute dork?, Jack thought and hugged him tight.  
“Can I sleep with you?” Rhys asked, his voice muffled by Jack’s shoulder. Then he grew rigid, probably realised what he had said.  
“I thought you wanted to take things slowly?” Jack just had to tease him.  
“ _Imeantlikesleepingwithyouinthesamebed!_ ” Rhys explained hectically and embarrassed.

He’s so precious, Jack thought and cuddled him closer.  
To Rhys’ surprise Jack lifted him up and put him onto his bed.  
“Make yourself comfortable.” he advised and laid down behind Rhys, taking the spot of the bigger spoon. He could hear Rhys happily sighing.

It didn’t take them long until both fell asleep again.

 

* * *

 

Rhys: I don’t wanna go back home so soon!  
Vaughn: Oh nooo, now starts that period where I have to endure all the pining, right?  
Rhys: You’re my best friend, who else am I supposed to vent to?  
Vaughn: Who confessed first? ;)  
Rhys: I’ve never said anything about that?  
Vaughn: If you think I never thought you guys would be all lovey-dovey, we might not  be as close as I thought  
             Are you guys a couple now, or not? ;)  
Rhys: …  
         YES. OMG I’m crushing so hard on him he’s even cooler in person.  
         And his hugs are amazing! Vaaaaaaaughn, I don’t wanna GOOOO  
Vaughn : You will probably see him again soon, if you’re a couple now, don’t worry!

 

Rhys still hated that he had to catch his train in 2 hours. Annoyed he stored his phone in his pocket and slumped next to Jack on his couch.  
“What’s up with that grumpy face?” Jack asked, nudging Rhys shoulder.  
“Do I _really_ have to drive back home already?”  
“You don’t want to worry your parents, right? Also tomorrow is Monday and we both have work… or school…” Jack reasoned.  
“You’re right, but still…”  
Jack took Rhys face in his hands, forcing him to look into his eyes. Rhys’ heart made a jump.  
“I’m not going to vanish suddenly, Rhysie.” He pulled his face a bit closer to his own.  
“Maybe we can already even see each other next weekend, how would you think of that?”  
“I’d like that.” Rhys answered. His heart went crazy in his chest, his breathing sped up.  
He took a quick glance at Jack’s lips, than looked back at his eyes. The other was dangerously close. Rhys whished Jack would already kiss him, the tension between them was unbearable.

  
“You want somethin’?” Jack said his lips curving into a smile while he perfectly knew what he did to Rhys. “Come and get it?”  
Rhys grabbed Jack by his shirt’s collar, pulling him closer and finally closing the distance between them.  
It was a short but sweet first kiss they shared. The butterflies in Rhys belly arouse again, even heavier than before. He somehow felt taken back to his 14 year old self that just shared his first kiss. Well, basically this was his first kiss, just... with a boy...  
  
“You are such a tease.” Rhys declared but Jack shut him up effectively by pulling him into another kiss. Wrapping his arms around the younger boy he dragged him onto his lap, hugging him close.  
Rhys pushed his hands into Jack’s hair, pulling carefully at the soft strands while Jack deepened the kiss by nibbling on Rhys' lower lip, adding some slow strokes of his tongue until he had Rhys suddenly moaning. The younger boy jerked away, his head brighter than a ripe tomato.

“That was a nice sound.” Jack admitted. “Ya okay? Do you want to stop?”  
Rhys shook his head. “No. That felt.. I was just surprised…”  
Jack smirked and proceeded to cuddle Rhys and slowly making out with him.

The got interrupted by a knock on the door.  
“Jack, Rhys? You guys should get going soon, if Rhys wants to catch his train in time.” Timothy reminded them.  
Jack who had been bowing over a flustered Rhys, sat straight up to have a glance at the clock.  
“Damn he’s right, baby.” He stood up, giving his lover a hand to help him get up as well.  
Rhys straightened his clothes and tried to smooth his disheveled hair. He was more than glad that Jack didn’t say anything about his tenting trousers…  
That was one of the hottest make out sessions Rhys has ever had. He better not try to imagine what sex with Jack would be like… _Pull yourself together!_ , he told himself. _You told him to take things slowly…_

 

* * *

 

Rhys  : I already miss you xoxo  
Handsome  : You’ve been gone since 10 minutes, cupcake  
Rhys  : :(  
Handsome  : I’m gonna miss you too, but we’ll see each other soon. I’m also waiting  Ingame for you, when you’re back home <3  
                  So glad ya came to visit me!  
Rhys  : Same! :)  
  
Rhys sat on his train back home, cramped into a corner between other passengers because his wagon was way too crowded, but yet happy. He could still feel Jack’s lips on his, could feel the goodbye linger on them. Rhys sighed; wished he would have had the courage to kiss the other boy sooner. Wished it was already next weekend where he’d be back in Jack’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now I decided I will write two more chapters, the last one being some kind of epilogue. Thanks for all the kudos and comments this already got <3


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